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Bokisig empire
'Bokisig empire' 'History' The /bo’kisig/ empire descended from hunter-gatherer tribes that had been populating the savannah since at least approximately PS7,000. The survival of the tribes, who at that time were speaking a precursor of Proto-Bokisig, was under constant threat not only by nature and foreign foes, but also internal fighting between tribes and clans. The common language provided a bond, and a common enemy provided urgent impetus for some sort of unification: Around PS8,000, an offshoot of the Txabao people from the desert to the west of the highlands and mountain range ventured onto the territory peopled by the Bokisig. 'Warring age' In these wars, referred to as /mɛ.ʔu.at/ (struggle away the established order”) in Proto-Bokisig, the hunter-gatherers were no match for the camel cavalries of the Txabao, and the latter managed a series of quick conquests. The camel – or rather the name of the Txabao camel-deity “Neidu” – also was the source for the exonym in Proto-Bokisig for this invading people: /nedu-ki/, “camel-people”. By around PS8200 the tribes had been fully pushed into the Southeastern half of the savannah, and a kingdom called /ne’dusu/ was formed in the western and northern part. However, the success of that kingdom was short-lived; while the savannah provided richer game, namely the hadrosaurids called /a’bomhiz/ (“ground-shaker”) in Proto-Bokisig, they lacked the experience and skill set necessary to successfully live off the lands of that savannah. The kingdom had overstretched itself and had to rely on plundering and even keeping camels for food. Meanwhile, by around 8,300, the Bokisig people lands had regrouped in the southeast and established fortified settlements in this land as a confederation of tribes in retrospect referred to as /bokisig/ (“gathering of nomads/hunters/gatherers”; this confederation also gave its name to the later empire and its people). Furthermore, they combined their invention of the wheel with domesticated camels – either caught in the wild, after they had escaped the /neduki/, or captured directly from the latter – to construct and field camel-drawn war chariots, which finally gave them an edge over the /neduki/ forces. Thus ensued the successful yet bloody wars of reconquest called /’bo.ʔat/ (“struggle to get back towards established order”, during which a large swathe of land up to the highlands in the west was won back, and most of the remaining /neduki/ fell back to a small kingdom in the north of the savannah and south of the desert to the north of it. Those /neduki/ who fled back to their ancestral homeland, the desert to the west of the highlands and mountain range bisecting the continent, brought with them the BLSL invention of the wheel, spurring huge growth of the Txabao civilization in the Western deserts of the continent. With the external threat of the /neduki/ all but disappeared by around 8350, the confederation now covering almost the whole savannah was more susceptible to in-fighting between tribes and clans, as evidenced by the uprisings of the clans /sehinsig/ (around 8425) and /keohu/ (around 8450). Such full-blown civil war, however, did not recur after the successful suppression of these revolts – this may be at least partly due to the introduction of large-scale exogamous marriage between clans, based upon a development that had already taken place on a smaller scale in the southeast as a means of strengthening bonds between tribes, as stable relationships had been a prerequisite for being able to muster up the resources to successfully defend the land and make use of new technologies to then lead the reconquest. In addition, the loose-federation system then put in place for peace time respected the fierce independence of the individual tribes and clans. 'Age of the confederation' During the age of the confederation (ca. 8350-8800), lifestyle and technological changes occurred, though they were resisted by some groups. The assimilation of those conquered /neduki/ people who did not flee or were forcibly driven out varied between tribes, with wholesale enslavement at the one end of the spectrum and almost complete assimilation at the other. Only in some larger hubs strategically placed at crossroads of trade and transport routes did a culturally distinct diaspora remain; it was this diaspora that also enabled commerce with the nascent Txabao trade power to the west through mountain pass roots. This role was so crucial that it even resulted in the Txabao numbering system being used for trade and business purposes well into the late age of the confederation, after which the system merged with the native system. Domesticated camels, brought into the area by the /neduki/, were adopted by most clans as beasts of burden (pulling carts as well as riding), and some sort of basic agriculture was adopted in the more fertile areas. The areas where population had concentrated around fortresses during the wars experienced urbanisation, and it was around these fortified cities that advanced agriculture was pursued most intensely. In particular, this was the area to the southeast of the “big river”, with the population concentrating around the fortress-turned-city ɛg.’pɛs.sot (AUG-stone-shelter; Classical stage > ‘kwɛs.tøt) since the days of the great wars. Inspired by the now-widespread use of camels, attempts at domesticating the /abomhiz/ - who had until then been equally feared, venerated and hunted– were made, but this was a venture fraught with failure until the discovery of rich iron deposits in the western highlands and mountains propelled further technological advances.